the biggest scientific breakthrough for some time

Now that you know, superbugs kill an estimated 700,000 people a year, among them 230,000 newborns. But, according to a recent British study, this number will rise to a staggering 10 million a year by 2050 – as many as cancer – if no action is taken. It could cost the world economy $100 trillion.

Copyright: University of Melbourne.

We’ve discovered that the polymers actually target the bacteria and kill it in multiple ways.

One method is by physically disrupting or breaking apart the cell wall of the bacteria. This creates a lot of stress on the bacteria and causes it to start killing.

citations by Shu Lam, a Malaysian PhD student at the University of Melbourne. She has confined herself to a scientific laboratory to figure out how to kill superbugs that can no longer be treated with antibiotics.
Lam tells that she has successfully tested the polymer treatment on six different superbugs in the laboratory, and against one strain of bacteria in mice. Even after multiple generations of mutations, the superbugs have proven incapable of fighting back.The reduction in toxicity is because the larger size of the peptide polymers, about 10 nanometres in diameter, means they cannot enter healthy cells.

We found the polymers to be really good at wiping out bacterial infections,

says Lam, who leads a half-a-dozen-strong research team.
According to The Telegraph cross-discipline work is still required to further reduce toxicity and work out the best way to administer the treatment, whether by tablet or injection.